


Easier

by TatianaMalfoy



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Domestic Fluff, Explicit Language, F/M, Fluff, Possessive Bucky Barnes, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Protective Bucky Barnes, steve rogers is an idiot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-24
Updated: 2019-12-07
Packaged: 2020-03-13 20:26:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18948223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TatianaMalfoy/pseuds/TatianaMalfoy
Summary: Reader comes home to find her fiancé is back from his mission plus an unexpected surprise for both of them. Will she like it or will she return it to sender?Steve decides not to return to Reader and their six year old relationship, instead he stays with Peggy. But what if that didn't work out as well as he wanted and he decided to return? What will he find and how will he deal with it? Read and find out.





	1. Blast from the past

**Author's Note:**

> Characters belong to Marvel and I make no profit from this.
> 
> I don't have a beta so all mistakes are mine. Please point them out and I will fix it ASAP.
> 
> This was inspired by the song "Easier" by 5 Seconds of Summer and the line "Is it easier to stay, is it easier to go? I don't wanna know."

I let out a loud squeal as I park my car next to Bucky’s SUV and the unknown sleek, black car next to it. Bucky is home from his mission and he brought guests with him. I quickly park the car and grab my bag from the passenger’s seat and sprint across our lawn and bursting through the door.  
“Buuuuuuuuuuuuck!” I shout as I run through the house until I make it to the living room. “Are Sam and P-”  
The words are stopped by the strangled noise that comes out of my mouth and my arms go slack, my bag falling to the floor, the only noise in the room made by the lipstick that was now rolling away from my bag on the hardwood floor.  
I take a step back and bring a hand up to my face to rub my eyes. Nope, still there, seated on the chair, next to the couch where my fiancé stood until a few moments ago.  
“Doll, let’s talk,” Bucky says as he makes his way towards me, his arms quickly wrapping around me and gently steering me towards the kitchen. It would give us the illusion of privacy at least.  
I’m still silent as Bucky sits on his kitchen chair at the head of our table and pulls me to sit down on his lap.  
“Bucky, what is going on? What is he- HOW is he here?!?” I say as my brain reboots when I fell Bucky’s hands on my back, anchoring me to reality.  
“I don’t know much. I found him on the porch when I got home. He was waiting for you. We both got the shock of our lives when we saw each other instead of you,” Bucky sighs, running a hand over his face, trying to make sense of what was going on. “I asked him what he wanted, but once he saw our stuff together around the house and our photos on the mantle, he shut down and said he wanted to wait for you to explain.”  
“And here I was, hoping Sam was back and he had brought me a piece of his momma’s cherry pie,” I say, trying to pull Bucky out of his dark thoughts.  
He snorts and I smile, giddily. I would do anything to see this man happy and at peace.  
“Yeah, something tells me that the punk has no pie for you, doll.”  
We look at each other for a second as we process what he just said and we both burst into peals of laughter. If it weren’t for Bucky’s arms around my waist and his quick reflexes, I would have ended up on the floor with a bruised ass.  
We slowly calm down, in between soft kisses and small giggles every few seconds when our mouths are apart. Sitting in silence, I entwine my fingers with his metal ones and bring it to my lips, softly kissing his hand. I run my other hand through his hair for a few moments and then I trace his nose with my finger, followed by his sinful mouth. I could see the worry he had about what was going to happen now in the depths of his blue eyes.   
I pressed my mouth to his in a bruising kiss with a force that took him by surprise. I slap the back of his head and then I let my hand squeeze his neck as reassurance that I was there and that I wasn’t going anywhere.   
“I can see where your mind is, James Buchanan Barnes, and you better pull it back from there before I do it myself. And you’re not going to like it. I love YOU, Bucky. I am marrying YOU. My name is going to be Barnes in three months. Now let’s go see what he wants.”  
He gives me an apologetic smile and he kisses my forehead then our entwined hands. “I love you too, sweetheart. So much that I hate you cause you’re so damn beautiful when you say or do stuff like that. I can’t wait until your name is also Barnes.”  
We sit up and with our hands still entwined we make our way back to the living room. His eyes are focused on our hands and when he sees our kiss swollen mouths, he flinches visibly and seems to hunch in on himself.  
“So, Rogers, what can we do for you?” I ask as we enter and make our way to the couch, sitting down so close to each other that you would have trouble seeing where one ended and the other began.


	2. Ghost of you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reader and Bucky find out why Steve is back. Though we all know why, don't we?
> 
> Inspired by the song Ghost of you by 5 Seconds of Summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This belongs to Marvel and I make no profit from it.  
> The lyrics belong to 5 Seconds of Summer.
> 
> Thank you for the comments! They made my day. I hope you'll like this chapter and I hope to see you in the comment section again. Enjoy!

"So I drown it out like I always do  
Dancing through our house  
With the ghost of you  
And I chase it down  
With a shot of truth  
Dancing through our house  
With the ghost of you..."

“Ugh…Congratulations, I guess”, he mumbled, visibly shaken and not taking his eyes off of my gorgeous, if I can say so myself, engagement ring.  
From the corner of my eye I could see from Bucky’s expression that he had no intention of talking to him yet, so I squeezed his hand and answered Steve.  
“Thanks, I guess…Your invitation must have gotten lost sometime between 2023 and whatever year it was that you went back to and did not return.”  
If possible, Steve’s face fell even more, while Bucky snorted, not being able to help himself and hid his face into my hair. “Take it easy there, tigress,” he murmurs as he kisses my neck.  
I shrug and turn my head to steal a kiss from Bucky. “Just calling it how it is. Not my fault he doesn’t like the consequences of what he did.”  
“She’s right, Buck. I deserved that,” Steve says, squaring his shoulders and looking us in the eyes. “What I did was bound to cause some waves-”  
It was my turn to snort and cut him off. “Some waves?!? I think we have a different understanding of what some waves means and what staying in the past and failing to return to your longtime girlfriend does to a woman, Rogers!”  
“Doll-”  
“Don’t!” Bucky barks, stiffening beside me and glaring darkly at his best friend. Is Steve still his best friend?  
“Sorry, sorry”, he says, bringing his hands up in defense, probably sensing the danger coming from my fiancé.  
“What are you doing here, Steve?” Bucky asks, letting go of my hand, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, never breaking eye contact with Steve.  
I wrapped an arm around his waist and put my head on his shoulder, feeling him relax a little under me.  
“I’m back,” he finally says after a few moments of silence.  
Bucky and I share a confused look before we turn our eyes back to Steve. “Ok, and? You’re back for a visit to the future? You’re back to stay? Why are you back anyway?” I ask him.  
“I came back for you.”  
“Aweee, did you hear that, Buck? Steve came to visit you,” I say, playing stupid.  
Both Bucky and Steve look at me as if I had gone insane. “What?!? You can’t possibly mean me, Steve. I won’t even entertain you or your idea. As you’ve heard and seen”, I say lifting left my hand and wiggling it in his face, “I-we are getting married, Steve. I don’t know why you are here and to be honest, I don’t really care, either. You’ve made your choice four years ago and we made ours. You chose Peggy Carter, we chose each other.”  
Which each word I said, Bucky relaxed more and more and I could feel the worry draining from his body. What did he expect? That I would jump in Steve’s arms and ride off into the sunset? I admit it, the car Steve drove here was amazing, but the driver was wrong. I would rather watch Bucky drive it as I sit in the passenger seat and admire him.  
“Peggy and I…we didn’t work out. We tried, but we broke up actually.”  
“And you thought what? Let me go back to the stupid woman I left behind without as much as a by your leave, she’ll be waiting for me for sure. Guess what, Steve? Shit doesn’t work like that.”  
Steve flinches. At my language or what I said, I can’t be sure. Not as if I cared anyway, mind you. Bucky dislodges himself from me and he sits back against the couch, pulling me into his side with an arm around my shoulders. For comfort or to stop me -or himself- from attacking Steve, I couldn’t tell you.  
“No, no, sweet-, Y/N. I’m sorry I left like that. I thought Bucky would tell you-”  
“I wasn’t dating Bucky, Steve! I wasn’t fucking Bucky. I was dating you. For six fucking years, Steve. And you left me here to rot, to go chasing a skirt! You kissed Carter ONCE back in ’45 and you threw away an entire relationship for a “what if”, Steve. You chased a dream and it turned out to be a nightmare so you decided to go back to what was familiar to you.”  
“Steve… Why exactly are you here?” Bucky asked again when he was sure I was done shouting. “I’m sorry to hear it didn’t work out for you, but I did tell you that you were making a mistake.”  
“And now I want to fix it!” he shouts back as he sits up and starts pacing back and forth in front of us, pulling at his hair.  
Now that he was standing, I finally got a good look at him. Even though he was gone for four years, in our time, he looked older. Signs of aging were finally visible on his face and I can’t say that it was something bad. He looked a lot like he did while he was on the run and he became Nomad. Long-ish hair that was falling in his eyes and a thick beard that made him look fierce and slightly savage. His shoulders were still wide and his waist small, but he carried himself differently, his shyness not so obvious in his body movements. He seemed to have finally filled his shoes and stopped trying to make himself look smaller that he actually was. Even distressed he exuded a lot more confidence than I had ever seen. How many years passed for him? Maybe this was why he expected to find me waiting for him, like a woman waiting for her husband after he left for war.  
I sighed and stood up, making my way towards him. I put my hand on his arm and he stopped pacing, looking at me with his big blue eyes full of hope and shame that my heart constricted and for a second I was 22 again and in love with the All American hero.  
“Steve, there is nothing to fix here. You left and I was broken. Bucky was broken too. So we fixed each other over and over again until you couldn’t tell that something was broken in the first place. Like Bucky said, I’m sorry that things did not work out as you hoped they would, I would never enjoy your pain. But other than that, there is nothing like that for you here. I would never dare tell Bucky what to do, but it’s up to him how he deals with your relationship. But us? Whatever we had? It ended back in 2023, the second you decided to turn your back to me and lie to my face that you would be back and we would have a family. Bucky is my family. Sam and Peter and Wanda and the others are my family. You left us to deal with the aftermath; you were our beacon and you left without a backward glance. But we pushed through. You were just a stepping stone that I will always be grateful for because you brought my family in my life. But other than that, I hope you’ll be well and you’ll find the peace we worked so hard to find.”  
I turned my back to his pained face and after pressing a kiss to an awed Bucky’s mouth, I left the room to let them talk about their friendship.


	3. The Passing of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky clues in Steve on what he missed. It goes about as well as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This belongs to Marvel and I make no profit from it.
> 
> As usual, it is not beta'd so if you spot any mistakes let me know and I'll fix them.
> 
> Enjoy and hopefully I'll see you in the comments section!

As soon as the woman left the room, the former best friends were left in an awkward and painful silence.  
“How long have you been together?” Steve finally asks as he sits back on the chair in order to be on the same level with Bucky, who had yet to move a muscle on the couch.  
“Officially? Two years, eleven months, three weeks and four days. Unofficially? Probably since the moment you left,” answered Bucky, a small, unintentional smile curling his mouth into a grin that Steve hadn’t seen on his face in almost a century.  
Steve sat there, struck by the image that you and Bucky and your house painted for him. A happy couple, with a cozy home, ready to get married and start a family, while he was the man out of time…Again. Not that he had anyone to blame but himself this time, but that did not make it hurt any less.  
The two men sat in silence for a few minutes. Steve truly taking in the surroundings, for the first time since he stepped into the house and trying to wrap his mind around how much he had managed to fuck up his life. Bucky was taking in his best friend. Or was it former now? He too had silently noticed the changes in Steve and his heart hurt that Steve had to ruin so many good things in his life in order to finally make peace with who he was. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but be glad for Steve’s screw ups because that meant he would get to spend the rest of his life next to his best girl and their children and grandchildren. Steve would have to make do with the part of uncle if he was so inclined. That is if Sam and Thor and Bruce let him live, Bucky thought to himself and the mischievousness was visible on his face because Steve broke the self-imposed silence in the room.  
“What’s with the smirk, Buck?”  
“Do the others know you’re here? That you are back?” Bucky asks, snorting when he sees Steve’s face morph into a look of pure panic.  
“Ugh…no?!?” Steve gulps.  
“Are you telling me or are you asking me, punk?”  
“Telling, you jerk,” Steve bites back, a small smile finally appearing on his face as he hears the familiar insult, despite his panic still obvious. “I came straight here, hoping she still lived here. I would have gone to them if she had moved. And when I saw your tinted SUV coming up the driveway I nearly ran and hid thinking she moved away, but then you got close enough and I could hear you screeching away and murdering that song, so I knew I got the right house…”  
“I sing like an angel, thank you very much. Y/N says so, Rogers, so it must be true. But I expected nothing less from you, which is why I’m hoping God will be on your side. You’re gonna need it. But it seems that your stupid luck is still with you despite your idiotic travelling between timelines, because Sam is away on a mission and Thor and ‘Hilde are on their honeymoon. T’Challa and Okoye are so gonna come kick your ass from here to Wakanda. So for now, you will only have to deal with Bruce and Clint and probably Pepper and Morgan. Definitely Morgan. She was mighty pissed when Uncle Steve up and left her, us, behind. So good luck, pal.”  
Steve’s eyebrows go higher and higher with each sentence that Bucky says and he goes paler and paler when he realizes how much he missed. Thor? Married?!? THOR? “Wait! Thor is married? And who is this… ‘Hilde that you mentioned?!? Where did he met her? Did you run a background check on her?!?”  
Bucky starts laughing so hard Steve is afraid he will choke.  
“I dare you to say that in front of Y/N or Thor and ‘Hilde. ‘Hilde is her best friend. They would kill you, slowly and painfully. For you, that is. For them it would be fun. Sam and Peter would be taking bets on it and Morgan would probably cheer the girls on just so she could see you punished for leaving her. She got her father’s rather vengeful tendencies. ‘Hilde is Brunnhilde, you idiot. Valkyrie.”  
Steve feels as if a building collapsed on top of him. But Bucky isn’t done. No, Sir. Not by a long shot. Never let it be said that Bucky Barnes doesn’t know how to get even.  
“Although, you might not live long enough for Sam to get his grubby hands on you. Not once Wanda gets to you, punk!”  
Bucky knows Steve fell hook, line and sinker when his face lights up for a moment at the reminder of the girl who had become a little sister to them both. Oh, how he was going to enjoy this! He’s just sad Sam isn’t here to witness Steve the idiot have a brain aneurysm due to the information overload.  
“Wanda? She’s still with you guys? She’s still fighting?”  
Bucky schools his face into a confused one and says “Why wouldn’t she be? Granted, it’s a little bit hard on her right now, I mean to fight with a seven month pregnant belly that she sports at the moment is difficult. So she’s on maternity leave until she gives birth and probably a few years after I would say. No way will her husband allow her to fight while the baby is still young. Anyways, hell hath no fury like a pregnant woman, pal. So…are you sure you wanna stick around for that? Might not turn out so great for you once she gets her hands on you…or on your neck, whichever one she finds more appealing at the time.”  
It doesn’t escape Steve’s notice that Bucky did not say the name of Wanda’s husband, but he has bigger fish to fry at the moment. “Ok. I might buy it that Thor and Valkyrie got married. But Wanda? Pregnant?!? What in the world? How did that happen?”  
“Well, Steve, when a man and a woman love each other…”  
“Buck!” Steve barks, but it’s useless. Bucky is back to laughing so hard that he almost falls off the couch.  
“Alright, alright. Hold your horses, pal. Look, Wanda and her husband fell in love, they got married and not they are having a kid. Guess who’s gonna be godfather, by the way? Me! Cold you believe it? Me, the godfather of Sam Wilson’s child! Never would I have seen that one coming.”  
That is the moment Steve’s brain short-circuits and he starts feeling dizzy. “Now I know you’re just messing with me, Buck. That’s just cruel. Sam and Wanda? You the godfather of their supposed love child?”  
Steve knows he fucked up the instant the laughter stops and Bucky sits up so fast that the couch moves back a couple of inches. Bucky’s face has gone dark, his eyes cold and any trace of amusement on his face was now long gone under his Winter Soldier persona. “I don’t know which one of those statements to address first, Rogers. But in case you haven’t figured it out yet, pal,” Bucky basically spits out the word pal, with so much resentment that Steve has to remind himself that Bucky did not kill him even when he was the Winter Soldier, “ but this aren’t the times you left behind. We aren’t the people you left behind. Our lives did not and do not revolve around Captain fucking America. When you fucked off to God knows where, the world still turned and we moved on. Without you. So get off your high horse and face the consequences of what you did. You left me, Y/N, the whole team, when we needed you the most. And I get that maybe you wanted peace and you did not want to fight anymore, but the way you did it was cowardly. You left us and the world around us a mess and you fucked off in the past to live some fantasy of yours with a woman who had gotten married and had children. How could you do that, Steve? She had moved on. She told you to do the same when you visited her in that damn asylum. An old lady, tormented by her illness and you had to go back again and again and torture her with your sudden reappearance. Good job, Steve. A fucking plus, asshole!”  
“I think it’s time for you to go, Steve!” a soft voice interrupts them and a small body fits itself around Bucky, who was livid and breathing hard.  
Bucky reminded the woman of a caged dog in the middle of a fight. Ready to tear everything in its path to small pieces. And this one had his sights set on Steve.  
“Y/N, I-”  
“It wasn’t a suggestion,” she cut him off. “You’ve overstayed your welcome. You need to think about what you’ve heard, decide if you want to disappear again and get in touch with the rest as well. But not today. Goodbye, Steve!”  
She does not give him the chance to respond, she simply pulls Bucky with her, out of the room and turning their backs on Steve, letting him know without a doubt that it was time for him to leave.  
Steve is left alone, in a foreign living room, in a house that he used to live in, but surrounded by memories of a life that was not nor will it ever be his.


	4. It won't be soon before long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens after Steve leaves? Read and find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The characters belong to Marvel and I make no profit from this. 
> 
> This is unbeta'd so if you spot any mistakes please let me know so i can fix them.  
> Your comments are making my heart melt so i hope you'll enjoy this chapter.
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: There's a passing mention of spousal abuse as a stupid joke between lovers, no depiction. I hope it will not offend anyone. If you find it offensive please let me know and i will change it as soon as i can.

Steve stood rooted on the spot for a few moments, hoping and praying that one if not both of them would come back so he could apologize for being an asshole and talk some more. The only sounds that he could hear were the whispers of comfort that could be heard from a room upstairs. Y/N was trying to calm Bucky down and stop him from losing himself to his dark thoughts.  
Steve felt like he was intruding on a private moment…and he was. Bucky was getting ready to go downstairs and forcefully remove Steve from their property when he heard their front door open and close.  
“He’s gone,” he tells her, answering the unasked question that took over her face when she finally felt her lover relax.  
“Finally,” she sighs, sitting down on their bed and letting herself fall on her back. Bucky awards her with a fond smile and crawls next to her, putting his head on her chest and his metal arm over her middle. They sit in a comfortable silence for a few minutes, each lost in thought, but each hyperaware of the other’s presence. The woman kept running her hand through his hair and the man kept drawing patterns on her stomach, the temperature difference between his metal fingers and her hot skin giving her goosebumps and making him hide his devilish smile into her tummy.  
“What are you thinking about?” he asks her when she lets out a heavy sigh, neither one of them stopping their comforting actions.  
“This is such a mess, Buck. And it’s about to become even worse.”  
He freezes and sits up on his elbow, giving her a confused and slightly terrified look when he hears her prophetic words. He’s scared of what she is about to say. And who could blame him? His fiancée’s lover comes back and tells them straight that he wants her back. How could he compare to Captain fucking America, even older as he seems to be now.  
“What do you mean?” he croaks out and she turns her head to look at him so fast that he’s afraid she might have gotten whiplash.  
She takes in his face and his frozen state and sighs, shaking her head. Silly man! She lifts her hand, caresses his cheek lightly and then playfully slaps him. “Did that recalibrate your brain, Barnes? Are you thinking clearly again? Or do I need to really slap your ass six ways to Sunday?!?”  
“I never thought I’d be happy to be on the receiving end of spousal abuse,” he chuckles, leaning down to kiss her nose.  
“Spousal abuse is never funny, Bucky,” she chides him, but still looking at him with adoration in her eyes.  
He sobers up quickly and nods. “You’re right, doll. I just thought it would be a funny joke. I dunno what I was thinking. I blame Rogers for the errors my brain keeps getting.”  
She lets out a bark of laughter and he puffs up his chest, proud to be able to get her out of her funk. They rearrange themselves on the bed, until Bucky is sat against the pillows and she is resting half of her body on him and half of it on the bed. Bucky welcomes her weight on top of his as it anchors him to the present and to her. He is the one that is now running his hand through her hair, careful not to get it caught in the metal plates of his hand, while his other hand was entwined with hers and resting on his stomach.  
“What did he say when he saw you?” she asks him, not looking away from him.  
“He was happy, of course…at first that is. In his head it meant that you hadn’t moved away or that at least I could tell him where to find you. I got the shock of my life when I came up the driveway and could see him on the porch. I thought I was hallucinating at first. Hell, part of me is still thinking that it was a hallucination…or hoping that it was. Anyway, he jumped up and hugged me, saying how he was so happy to see me; that I would have been his second stop, but now he can see his two favorite people at the same time. He told me we would both have to wait on the porch for you because you weren’t home, but I finally told him he could wait for you on the porch all he liked, but I was home from a mission and I was going inside with or without him. He started bristling at the idea of breaking into your house but he shut up when I pulled out my keys and opened the door. That’s when confusion started to settle in. He asked me why I had a key to your house, if it was for emergencies and why could I enter as I liked since this clearly was not an emergency.”  
He stopped his story when she cut him off with a loud snort. He gives her a questioning look, but she shakes her hand, motioning for him to continue.  
“I walked in, still shocked and processing that he was there and he followed me in to the living room, still gripping at me about invading your space and not being right. He stopped talking when he finally noticed our pictures and our stuff strewn together around the room…”  
**Flashback**  
“Buck…why are there so many photos of you? And why are your things in here? Do you…Do you live here too?” Steve finds himself asking as he is hit by the image of a home that looked cozy and lived in and full to the brim of happy memories…none of which he could remember happening when he lived there with her. Something always felt missing, something also kept them from turning or considering the house their home. Sure, they were together for a little over six years when he left and they had been living together for almost four out of those and yet that house never truly felt like home. For him, at least.  
Bucky is about to answer but he hears Steve’s breath hitch and he stops, knowing exactly what he saw that made him react that way. Up on the middle of the mantle, above all other photos, displayed proudly was the picture Peter had taken of them when Bucky had proposed and she accepted. In the background of the photo, blurred and faded, but clearly them, Steve could make out the rest of their team and their small family. Clint and Wanda, Thor, Sam, Peter and Shuri, T’Challa and Okoye, Strange and Wong. Pepper and Morgan and Happy stood together in a corner. He could make out Groot’s branches next to a small raccoon and Nebula’s blue form as well as Quill and Drax hooting and hollering, happy as a clam for the happy couple. Peter had captured them mid kiss, Bucky spinning with her in his arms, both crying and the light catching the new ring on her finger. Looking at the photo you would have never thought that the people in the photo were Earth’s mightiest heroes, the ones ready to lay down their lives for the wellbeing of humanity. No. In the photo you could see an ecstatic couple and their family cheering them on and being happy to witness the new step in their relationship.  
They both stood in silence. No word were needed nor were there enough words to explain what was happening. Steve stood there, taking in a photo that he could have been in, probably would have been in had he not left if he was honest to himself. Bucky on the other hand, stood there, taking in his best friend. Believe him, he was happy to see Steve again, alive and well. But at the same time, he couldn’t help but admit to himself that a part of him had hoped Steve would never return. Not necessarily because he would have affected his relationship with Y/N, but because Bucky wasn’t sure he could ever truly forgive Steve for going back in time and leaving him behind, giving up on him and their friendship for the first time in over a century. Steve hadn’t given up on Bucky when Bucky was trying to kill him, yet the moment things were finally starting to settle and Bucky was finally finding the ground beneath his feet, his best friend, his brother in all but blood -hell, closer than a blood brother to be honest- up and left him alone without a second glance, while his mind was still fragmented and his body finally recovering.  
“Steve-”  
“Can we wait for her to come home?...Please?” Steve cuts him off, with a trembling voice and slumped shoulders.  
Bucky looks at the clock. He had timed his return home around her schedule so he would have time to prepare a quick dinner and maybe a bath so he knew exactly what the time was. “She should be home sometime in the next hour if you wanna wait.”  
“Do you have anywhere else to be?” Steve asks him, a bite in his tone.  
Bucky bristles and glares at Steve. “I came home earlier from a mission to make dinner for my fiancée and instead of that I find you here, waiting for her. Excuse me if I’m a little bit irritated.”  
Steve looks at him, shocked at the obvious distaste in Bucky voice which only makes Bucky’s hackles rise even more. Honestly, what had Steve expected when he came here? A welcome home party and a candle lit dinner under the moonlight and sunshine and daisies. And had Bucky not started his relationship with her, maybe that’s what Steve would have found waiting for him. Don’t be an asshole, Barnes, he tells himself. She is better than that. Even if he hadn’t started a relationship with her, she would have never welcomed Steve like that after what he did to her. She knows her worth and Steve forgot that.  
So there they sat, her past and her future, waiting for her to arrive and get the shock of her life.  
**End Flashback**  
“Jeepers,” she said, making him crack a smile, “how long did you end up waiting for me?”  
“Around 45 minutes, I think. It was awkward as hell, let me tell you.” Bucky tells her, a smile taking over his face when mischievousness takes over hers. “What are you thinking about now, you little temptress?”  
She says nothing, but instead breaks free from his hold and gets off the bed. She turns her back to him and starts walking towards their bathroom. His eyes follow her movements, then stopping on her shoulders where she is slowly pushing off the straps that were holding up her summer dress.  
His breath becomes labored and he can feel himself getting hard when she throws him a coy look over her shoulder. “Aren’t you coming?” she asks as she opens the door and steps into the bathroom, “I think we can spend another 45 minutes in here doing something fun instead.”  
He moves so fast that the next thing she processes is the bathroom door closing behind him and her back meeting the door, their mouths finding each other in a bruising, heart melting kiss.


	5. Someone you loved

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Steve left Y/N and Bucky's place he finds himself driving towards the first persons he needs to make amends with: The Starks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This belongs to Marvel and I make no profit from this.
> 
> No beta so if you spot any mistakes, please let me know! I'm glad you're enjoying this and I hope to see you in the comments.
> 
> This was inspired by Lewis Capaldi's "Someone you loved" where the lyrics at the beginning are from.  
> Enjoy!

“I'm going under and this time I fear there's no one to save me  
This all or nothing really got a way of driving me crazy  
I need somebody to heal  
Somebody to know  
Somebody to have  
Somebody to hold  
It's easy to say  
But it's never the same  
I guess I kinda liked the way you numbed all the pain…”

When Steve heard the relieved “Finally” she had let out when Bucky told her he had left, he felt as though he crashed into the Arctic again…only this time he didn’t get to fall asleep as all the dread and the cold took over his body and froze him inside out. Last time it happened he had the mercy of falling asleep as his body froze inch by agonizing inch. This time, he was wide awake and trapped as if in a night terror as his body froze from his soul and his body and mind soon followed.  
He swallowed the pain he felt untitled to feel and walked off the porch and drove away without looking back towards the house that held the two most important people in his life. All of his life. Past, future and present. All he had ever needed was under one roof and he knew he would never have the same bond with either of them. He had lost the love of his life and he had lost his brother. Steve didn’t doubt that Bucky would not completely turn his back on him, especially since she hadn’t demanded it of Bucky, as Bucky always felt things deeper. While both Steve and Bucky were righteous, honest men, Steve had always acted and felt as if the fate of the whole world rested on his shoulders. Unlike him, Bucky was happy and fulfilled as long as his family and friends had everything they needed and desired. That filled him with more joy and made him feel more useful and complete than anything else. While Steve worried for the world, Bucky worried for HIS world. “Why go looking for trouble if trouble wants nothing to do with me, Stevie?” Bucky had once asked him, in the early days of war when America’s involvement was still a pipe dream. “But what about the innocent, Buck?” Steve had told him, in that holier than thou tone of his that always managed to make him feel like an asshole for not thinking of the greater good. “But what about you? And your Ma’? And my parents and my sisters?” Bucky had coldly asked back. “My only concern is making sure you guys are alright. That is my only obligation. The rest is not up to me and if it does not affect me or you, then I say to Hell with it!” That had been it, Steve not daring to take the conversation further when he saw Bucky’s face. But at the same time Bucky had noticed that Steve acted weird towards him for the next couple of weeks.  
As Steve winced and came back from his day dreaming, he noticed that he had unconsciously driven the car towards the Starks’ place. Might as well, he sighed and revved the engine. If he was lucky he might catch Morgan before her bed time…Though I might not want that, he thought to himself as he remembered Bucky’s words. “She’s got her dad’s vengeful tendencies, that one” he had said. Steve could picture her in his mind. Tall and lean like her mother, but looking like a carbon copy of her father. Smart and bossy, the perfect combination of her two brilliant parents. Had Peter and Harley kept an active part in her life? Steve wasn’t sure Harley had, but he would bet his shield that Peter had. With the relationship that Peter had with Tony there is no way Peter would have turned his back on Morgan and Pepper.  
Unlike you, a voice that sounded eerily like Tony supplied in his head. He let out a pained sound and floored it, the car whining as Steve forced it to go faster.  
He realized he was close to the house when lights started lighting on their own around the trees and a minute later he found himself going up the driveway led to the house. He parked the car and exited, but stayed there a few moments allowing Friday to scan him and the car.  
“Boss, it appears you have a visitor,” Friday let Pepper know as she sat on the couch, reading a book about quantum physics. Not something she knew anything about, despite reading hundreds of books over the years. Yet she did it to feel closer to him…and to keep up with the kids. Though one could hardly call Peter and Harley kids, she still called them that. Morgan, Peter, Harley…heck, even Nebula, were lives that Tony had touched beyond comparison. The four of them were aptly known by the team as “Tony’s love children” as he had gathered them around him by mistake, but they had yet to denounce him despite all the years that had passed since his death.  
“Who is it this time?” Pepper chuckles as he sits up and makes her way towards the door.  
A few moments of silence and then Friday says “It appears to be…Captain Rogers, Boss.”  
Even as smart as Friday was, she was still an AI, yet both Pepper and Friday acknowledged the apprehension that filled her tone.  
“What?” Pepper gasped as she stopped in the middle of the living room, dropping her book and wondering if she should call Rescue or not. “Friday, are you sure? How is that possible?”  
“It is him, Boss. Older, but it is him. The body scan assures me so. How though, that I do not know,” Friday fills her in and she takes a deep breath. She makes her way to the door and she opens it just as Steve steps up on the porch and moves in the direction of the door.  
“Pepper-”  
He sees it coming, but does nothing to stop her. His words are cut off as Pepper stops in front of him and slaps him so hard that his head turns to the side. He rubs his jaw and gives her a small smile. “I deserved that,” he admits and pulls Pepper in his arms as her face crumbles and she bursts into tears.  
“Steve,” she sobs, held upright only by his arms around her. “How- Why- How are you here?”  
“Let’s get you inside,” he tells her, rubbing her back and gently guiding her inside and towards the couch. As he takes a quick look around, he notices that not much had changed in the years he was gone. The layout was the same, only the appliances and the furniture looked new but similar to the one that was in the house years ago. The thing that struck Steve was the multitude of photos that covered every available surface in the living room. Morgan and Harley in a hammock made from Peter’s web. Morgan dangling from one of Groot’s branches, cocooned in another one of Peter’s web creations this time in the shape of a chrysalis, Rocket laughing at Groot’s predicament as Groot looked pleased as a punch. Peter and Bucky and Sam in a Charlie’s Angels pose, with Morgan dressed as Tony for a Halloween party. Bucky and Y/N’s engagement photo he had seen at their home. Pepper, Wanda, Y/N, Laura, Valkyrie, Okoye, Shuri, Carol and May on a night out in town. Morgan and T’Challa making faces as Peter and Shuri were kissing, with Queen Ramonda, Pepper and Okoye shaking their heads in the background, but smiling widely at the four of them. A photo from Sam and Wanda’s wedding day, with the bridesmaids and the groomsmen. Steve finds it easier to believe that Bucky was going to be the godfather of their child with probably Y/N as the godmother as the two of them had been maid of honor and best man.  
“That was a little over a year ago,” Pepper brings him out of his musings as she clears her throat to get rid of the lump and wipes her eyes with the sleeves of a shirt that Steve is sure it used to belong to Tony.  
“I missed so much,” Steve finds himself admitting as he sits down on the couch next to Pepper.  
“It’s good to see you again, Steve. You look-”  
“Like an asshole?” Steve chimes, cutting her off.  
“I was about to say older, but asshole works too,” Pepper chuckles and takes his hand in hers, squeezing it. “Time hasn’t been kind to you, Steve, has it? Is that why you’re back?”  
It was all Steve needed to burst into tearless, heart wrenching sobs, sorrow pouring out of him. Pepper startles, but does her best to wrap herself around his hunched form. She lets out a few tears of her own as she shushes him like a child and tells him again and again that it’s going to be alright. It takes Steve about half an hour calm down enough to tell Pepper what had happened.  
“When I left you all behind I left with a bent heart, but hopeful for a life that I thought I would have no chance to live here with you. And at first it was. Being with Peggy after all that time, after convincing myself that it would never be possible was like a dream. But then I would nightmares and I would wake up shouting for you guys. I kept seeing Bucky turn to dust. And Tony dying. And her face when I told her I would be back in a second and we would finally have that family she was dreaming about. Instead I left her behind to chase the family I had promised her for years with a woman I had never truly met, that I have never truly loved, that never truly understood me. And soon that took its toll. I couldn’t talk to her about it because that meant that I would have had to explain to her about time travel and about how she had gotten married and had children at some point and I came and erased everything from her life. How do you tell that to someone? Hey, just so you know, you had a husband and children, but I decided my fantasy trumped that and I made it all disappear?”  
“Steve…You deserved a chance to be happy.”  
“But I was...with her! And I fucked it up by running away after someone I never truly had. I found myself missing her smile, and Bucky’s jokes and Bruce and Thor…and I never got to talk about Nat and Tony passing away. Because I couldn’t talk to her about it. And I found myself pulling away, while she pushed and pushed and pushed for something that wasn’t hers to know. And I slowly found myself understanding that she wasn’t mine either, that she had never been and that I managed to fuck up my life beyond recognition when I left the love of my life and my brother behind. And Sam and Morgan and you…It had been 5 years at that point. And I was done. I tried to make it work but we were both bitter by that point and just ready to be done with it. I missed you all and she wasn’t what I needed so I came back…I came back to find my brother in her bed and my brother looking at me like I was a stranger and my best friend and brother are now as tight as can be. And the woman I came to see as a little sister is having a child of her own. And I missed-I missed all that because I couldn’t fucking make peace with what had happened and I couldn’t fucking let go of the past!”  
He shouted the last part, upset with himself and looked up, startled, just then remembering that Morgan might be home and hear his language. Guessing where his mind had gone, Pepper smiled and shook her head. “Don’t worry, she’s not home. She’s having a sleepover at Harley’s place. He’ll have her back in the morning.”  
Steve lets out a sigh of relief and runs his hands over his face. “I’m sorry about that, I didn’t come here to whine about my shit. I came to talk to you and Morgan and apologize for all the shit I’ve done…and haven’t done.”  
Pepper sighs and sits up, going to a table in the corner of the room and pouring two glasses of whiskey. She hands on to Steve and sits back next to him, sipping her own. “Look Steve…I’m not going to say that it was ok. It is now, but then…we were all a mess. From the youngest, to the oldest. From Groot to Morgan to Thor. We needed one another and when you left…you took another pillar from us. And ok, maybe the fact that we were counting so much on you was also one of the reasons you left. Which is something I cannot blame you for. A heads up would have been nice. Without you and Nat and Tony, most of us fell apart. Y/N and Bucky were in ruins, not leaving their home for months. I had to deliver groceries to their place for half a year. Peter moved in with them about a week after you left. He needed “Mr. Bucky, Winter Soldier, Sir” as he used to call him. I guess being together after they got dusted brought them closer. Peter found a kinship with Bucky, both being from New York and Bucky not hurting Peter back in Berlin…Peter is now like a little brother for Y/N and Bucky. ‘Hilde was there for Thor to help him truly come to terms with losing Loki, T’Challa had Okoye to help him through the nightmares. They ruled Wakanda from here for a while, not being able to be far away from the team. The budding relationship between Shuri and Peter did not help either…”  
With each word she said, Steve became smaller and smaller as if trying to become one with the couch. Pepper saw that and slapped his thigh. “I’m not telling you this to hurt you. The others will do that enough for me. I’m telling you this so you can understand that while we hurt, we also healed. As did you. Despite not having the happy ending you dreamed about having with Peggy, at least you got to make peace with it and now you can finally move on and not think of something that could’ve been. You tried, it failed. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and move on. Your psyche is in a better place now and it will allow you to form different connections with the world around you. With the people around you. You’ll have to learn how to navigate in this reality and you’ll have to rebuild your relationships with us. You’ll have your work cut out for you without blaming yourself for taking a step into the unknown and doing something selfish for once. It worked out for the best.”  
“Buck warned me that the guys were going to kick my ass and Morgan…”  
Pepper lets out a snort and ignores his mention of Bucky. Of course he had gone to them first. “Oh yeah, Morgan is going to torture you…slowly, painfully and you will enjoy it, Uncle Steve.”  
“I will, Pepper. I promise you I’m gonna make it up to her, to you…to everyone. I have so much to make up for…”  
As Steve doesn’t seem inclined to talk about Bucky or Y/N right now, Pepper makes the decision for both of them. “But you’ll start tomorrow. I’m gonna set up the guestroom while you finish your drink.”  
“I don’t want to impose, Pepper, I-”  
“Do you wanna be the one to tell Morgan that her Uncle came back and didn’t come see her for days? Do you wanna suffer until she’s retired?” Pepper cuts him off as she makes her way towards the stairs and lets out a laugh when she sees the fleeting terror that crosses Steve’s face. “Thought so,” she hums and leaves Steve to his tormenting thoughts.  
The last thought that goes through Steve’s mind as he falls asleep in the bed that Pepper set up for him was that tomorrow was going to be a long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Friday calling Pepper "Boss" makes me happy and makes me think of Tony. This way, both  
> Pepper and Friday have a piece of Tony with them.
> 
> I find myself thinking about a Steve/Pepper pair. In my head, Pepper was the only one willing to hear Steve out before bashing his head in for being an idiot, so that's why his motivations and thoughts were only revealed now. How would you feel about this pairing? Let me know.


	6. One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1. Peter Parker. The first act of The Holy Trinity that Steve has to face. Will he make it out alive?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This belongs to Marvel and I make no profit from this.
> 
> Sorry for the delay, guys! I went to visit my best friend in another town and she pulled me down a rabbit hole called The Society and introduced to a plum of a man called Grizz. Have any of you watched it? Let me know in the comments.

If asked later, Steve would tell you that it had been the most restful sleep he had had in a long time...in both timelines. So that was the reason it took him a couple of moments to understand what was happening when the following morning he was woken up by a resounding bang that was heard throughout the house. Steve shot out of bed and frantically searched for his shield, ready to take on the threat, heart in his throat, when he heard both Friday and Pepper at the same time: "Morgan Maria Stark, I better not find another hole in that wall, young lady. And Peter Benjamin Parker, just what exactly are you doing here?"/ "Captain Rogers, you can stand down. Peter has brought Miss Stark home."

For a moment Steve contemplated going back to bed and pretending he hadn't heard the noise the two created. It was like pretending you couldn't hear a hoard of elephants moving around in a glass store. Impossible. He sighed, sat on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands. How was he going to do this? Face Morgan...and Peter. Morgan had been merely 4 years old and grieving her father when he had last seen her. Peter had just returned from the dead basically and had been around 17 when Thanos snapped his fingers, so to be 17 and die and then return and be 17 again while also mourning your idol and sort of father figure would mess up any fully functional adult, let alone a teenager. Dealing with a 22 year old Peter, who had become so close to Bucky and her from what he was told, was going to be challenging. A 9 year old Morgan would be even harder. 

"Pepp, Pepp, Pepp, one might say you are not happy to see your favorite Avenger," Peter's voice brings Steve back from his thoughts.  
"I'm always happy to see Sam, Peter, but he's probably home with Wanda since you're here," Pepper's voice carries a teasing tone to it and Steve can only assume that Peter's must've done something because he can hear Pepper's shriek and Morgan's loud peals of laughter.  
"You take that back, Pepper, or I'm taking Morgan and moving in with Buck and Y/N. They would never let us go!" Peter tells her and Pepper snorts and claps.  
"Wonderful, will you help me pack?"  
Peter laughs and Morgan lets out an outraged "Momma!" before what Steve can describe as a battle cry was heard and Steve could hear Morgan's small feet clap against the tiled kitchen floor as she ran after Pepper and Peter cheered for Morgan.

Steve felt like a peeping Tom and sat up, rubbing a hand over his face and moving to exit the room. The noises had been reduced to chuckles and Pepper making breakfast and Steve thought it would be safer for him to appear now before Peter had a knife in his hand. "Seriously now, Peter. Why do you have Morgan? Harley was supposed to bring her home. And you were on a mission last I heard. Wanda and Y/N were worried that you, Bucky and Sam would miss the baby being born."  
Peter snorts as he pours orange juice in three glasses. He wearily eyed the two glasses of scotch in the sink but thought better than to mention it in front of Morgan. "These two spent yesterday sending me photos of the fun things they were doing without me so I thought I'd crash their sleepover when we reached Stateside. And it was a good thing I did because Harley had to rush to the hospital with a friend of his and I got to spend some one on one time with my favorite girl!"  
"I'm telling Shuri!" Morgan pipes in and Pepper laughs as Peter lets out a wounded gasp and Steve shakes his head as he reaches the stairs. She was so like Tony that it hurt his chest. How did Pepper manage to face it?  
"Why you little tattletale!" Peter shouts and Steve hears two chairs hit the kitchen floor before they fly out of the kitchen, Peter hot on Morgan's heels. 

Before Steve can react, Morgan gets to the bottom of the stairs and freezes, looking up at him in disbelief and quiet as a mouse. Peter is there a second later, picking her up and freezing as well when his eyes follow hers. Had it not been for Peter's quick reflexes, Morgan would have hit the floor.  
"Guys, what's-"  
Pepper stops as comes out of the kitchen to investigate the sudden silence. "Oh!"  
"OH!" Peter snaps and puts Morgan down and behind him which does not go unnoticed by neither Pepper nor Steve. Pepper shakes her head and Steve looks as if someone had stabbed him. "Bug," Peter says as he glares down Steve before turning his back to him and kneeling in front of a still shocked Morgan, "can you go in the garage for me? And call your uncles Buck and Sam and tell them to get their as-bottoms here ASAP? Can you do that for me, Tiny S?"  
The nickname seems to bring out Morgan out of her shock and make her react. "Peter, is that...?" she whispers as she cuddles close to him.  
Peter pulls her in and nods. "Yeah, Bug. It is. I'll see what he wants and then he can go on his way, kay?"  
Morgan nods then after a few moments shakes her head. Peter watches as Steve slowly comes down the stairs, one at a time as if to not frighten Morgan even more. He gives him a sharp look before standing up with Morgan in his arms and walks around Pepper, leaving the house through the back door. 

Pepper sighs and walks back towards the kitchen, Steve quietly following her. "You'll have to excuse Peter. He and Morgan, well...There are days I wonder if Peter isn't really Tony's son. He would do anything for Morgan. Anything."  
Before Steve can say anything, the back door opens and slams again and Peter Parker walks into the kitchen ready to send Steve off to meet his maker. Again, Steve sees it coming but does nothing to stop it. The punch is much more powerful than Pepper's slap and he hits the floor with a thud, while Pepper yells "Not in the house, Peter!"  
Peter moves in to throw another punch once Steve was back on his feet, but Pepper puts herself between the two. "That's enough, Peter! Not with Morgan here."  
The young man takes a deep breath and nods, still glaring at Steve. "What the fuck are you doing here? Did the skirt throw you out? Or did you grow tired of it like you grew tired of the one you had here?"

He made a mental note to apologize to Y/N for talking this way about her, but all he could see was red and all he could think about was murder. If this asshole thought he could come back and ruin the relationship that Y/N and Bucky had then he could go right back where he came from. Bucky wouldn't even have to lift a finger. Sam would gladly hold the door open while Peter happily did all the heavy lifting and pushed his geriartic ass back to the ice age. No, Sir. Nothing would come between those two. Not on his watch.

"Peter!" Pepper's sharp gasp brought Peter out of his murderous thoughts. "How dare you?!?"  
"Me? How dare I? How dare he! He's the asshole who up and left everyone when we needed him the most, so excuse me if I want an explanation, Pepper!"  
"Bucky would kick your ass if he heard you talk this way about Y/N! You had no right to say that!" Pepper scolds Peter, still in shock over his words. Peter would never forgive himself if she heard those words and they hurt her.  
"Yeah, I know. I'll apologize later even though she didn't hear them."

All this time Steve was quiet, taking Peter in. He had grown into his body, now a man and no longer a boy. He was tall and lean, and something in the way he held himself reminded Steve of a pre-war Bucky and the way he used to confidently swagger even when Steve would make him take out the trash. "You never know when a nice dame can spot you, Stevie. Ya never know!"  
The more he looks he can spot Buck and Sam and Y/N and Tony in the way Peter holds himself and in the way he talks and in the way he deals with Morgan. Steve is sure that somewhere in this Universe Nat and Tony and Peter's parents and Uncle Ben are looking down and smiling at Peter, proud as can be. Hell, even Steve was proud of the kid and the kid had just decked him into the next Sunday. "But he's not a kid anymore, Steve. Hasn't been for a long time!" a voice snaps inside his head and he shakes his head to clear Bucky out. 

"Miss Stark wanted me to let you know that her Uncles Bucky and Sam are on their way along with her aunts," Friday cuts in, breaking the argument between Pepper and Peter.  
Peter lets out a triumphant smile and the expression on his face makes him shudder. Yup, this one definitely spent a lot of time with Bucky.  
"I don't know how, why, for how long you're here, Captain Rogers, but so help me God, if you cause even the tiniest bit of trouble for Y/N and Bucky or for Sam and Wanda, I will kill you. Methodically and painfully and over many days. You do not belong here, with us anymore. I'm not sure you ever did. So for all our sakes, I hope you go back to where you came from soon. We have a wedding and a baby coming soon in our family. We do not need you here to cause problems with either of those events!"

Steve is rooted in his spot, opening and closing his mouth, processing what Peter had just told him. It hurt to hear it, but it was true, Steve could see it now. They had moved on, picked up the pieces and built anew. Where did he fit in all of this?

"You don't know what mess you've left behind. You don't know what you did to Y/N and Bucky. Hell, Sam was in pieces when you didn't return, let alone those two. I was the one who lived with them for a year. They were the ones who took care of me and made me feel human again and taught me how to live again. Despite being heartbroken and learning to cope with it. Bucky especially. There is nothing I wouldn't do for those two. Nothing. So don't think I won't send you back where you came from without a second thought. It is my turn now to protect them and I'll be damned if I'll let you walk all over them again. They-"

"Momma, is Capt'n Rogers still here?" a voice cut Peter off as Morgan walked back into the house.  
"What are you doing back here, Bug? I thought I told you to wait there until Aunt Y/N came to get you!" Peter said, his voice turning back to honey and looking as if the sun itself had walked into the room.  
"I wanted to talk to Capt'n Rogers before Uncle Buck and Uncle Sam kicked his a-"  
"Morgan!" snapped Pepper, cutting Morgan's bad word off. "I blame you for this one, Parker!"  
"Me?" Peter snorts, half amused, half insulted. "Have you heard yourself while you're working, Middle S? Yeah, Tiny S doesn't need help from any of us."  
Pepper has the decency to blush as Morgan brings the conversation back to Steve. "So, can I, Momma?"  
"Yeah, can she, Momma?" Peter asks, half glaring at Steve and half batting his eyelashes at Pepper, Morgan giggling to herself.  
Pepper sighs in defeat and gives Steve a pat on the shoulder before saying. "Sure. Let's go and give these two some privacy."  
"But-"  
"Now, Peter," Pepper says and this time her voice holds no room for argument.

As the door to the kitchen closes behind the two and Morgan turns her big, round eyes to him, Steve wonders if it is too late to call Peter back and let him kick his ass some more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Peter calls Morgan Tiny S and Pepper Middle S while Tony is and always will be Big S. I thought it was an adorable way for Peter to feel close to Tony. When Pepper wants to make him feel better she calls Peter Quarter S. 
> 
> While my heart is set on a Steve/Pepper pairing, it will not happen in this one. Steve's fate has changed over night and other ending awaits him. Hope you will not flail me alive when the time comes!
> 
> I was halfway through this chapter before I realized that Peter would be aware of Steve due to his spidey senses, but by then I was too focused on the story, so please humor me! Thank you.
> 
> See you in the comments!


	7. Toothbrush

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff. That's it. That's the only thing that happens in this chapter. 
> 
>  
> 
> And a bit of angst towards the end, I'll be honest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Marvel owns everything and I make no profit!
> 
> I know I promised Morgan, but this song came up in my playlist and my brain ran with it. This chapter is inspired by "Toothbrush", the song played by DNCE.
> 
> See you in the comments!
> 
> P.S. As you can see my music taste is all over the place so if you think a song could inspire something, don't be afraid to hit me up in the comments.

"When you're standing there in your underwear  
And my T-shirt from the night before  
With your messed up hair  
And your feet still bare  
Would you mind closing the bedroom door (ah ooh)..."

Though they were too lazy to get up and close the blinds after their love making, it wasn’t the morning light that woke the man up. Instead he woke up when he felt he was being watched. He sat up on his elbow and rubbed the other hand on his face, trying to wake up. When his eyes finally focused he would swear that his heart skipped for a moment. There she was, beautiful as always, looking at him like he was the only man in the world...which to be honest, wasn’t far from the truth. Her hair was a tangled mess on top of her head, she hated brushing it because she had no patience for it and it hurt, so usually it was him that ended up gently untangling her hair with his fingers. Her smile was bright, her face holding no trace of make-up. As she tended to do when lazy days were on the agenda, she stole the t-shirt he had been wearing the night before and he could spy the pink color of her nipples through the white piece of clothing. It clashed with the black of the lace panties she had on and he could feel himself harden in his pants. It was one of her best looks. Seeing her so open and relaxed around him always made his insides flutter. She was resting with her shoulder against the door jamb, her arms at her side and her feet bare on the hardwood floor. She looked like a vision and he let a groan and beckoned her over.  
“You’re getting sloppy, Sarge,” she teased and shook her head, declining his invitation.  
“How long have you been standing there, kitten?” he asks as he sits up against the headboard and the sheets pooled around his waist, letting her see his abdomen, but hiding what she truly wanted to see.  
He smirks as he watches her eyes roam over his body. She was a good girl last night, Bucky thinks to himself. Let’s give her a show! He fakes yawning and stretches his arms above his head and pulls out his right leg from under the sheet, bending it and giving her a view of his thick and straining thigh muscles. He knows he won this round when she crosses her arms over her hard nipples and she changes her wait from one leg to the other to get some friction between her legs.  
She knows she got played when she spots the corner of his mouth slowly moving up. Bastard, she thinks to herself and even though he is her man and she has intimate knowledge of every inch of his body, she still cannot keep herself from admiring him. She can still remember the days when he would hide under thick layers of clothes and would change in the bathroom just so she couldn’t see the bullet or knife marks that littered his body or the thick, pink and angry scarring that he had around his right shoulder. Her man deserved to be admired, not only for how his body looked and how fit he was, but because his body is living proof of how hard he clung to life and how stubborn he was that he did everything in his power to not die on their terms. Now they were proof of the sacrifices he was willing to make to keep her safe and also return home to her.  
“Long enough to be tempted to join you!”  
He makes a wounded sound and playfully puts his hand over his hand. “I’m wounded, kitten. You left me here, alone and scared and cold and you did not have the heart to come and make it all better?!? However shall I recover from this? Oh, the betrayal…”  
She slaps a hand over her mouth to stop the sounds of her snorts, but her body shakes with amusement. “You’re an idiot, Barnes. However shall I put up with you for the rest of my life?”  
“I will just have to remind you every day that you love me and I love you,” he tells her, all traces of amusement gone from his voice.  
She gives him a soft smile and moves from the doorway into the bedroom, making her way towards the bed. Bucky takes her by the hand and pulls her in bed and she carefully straddles him, only the sheet and their thin underwear between them. Both can feel the heat radiating from the other, but choose to ignore it for now. His hands come to rest on her hips and she lets out an involuntary shiver when his cold hand makes contact with her skin. The sound she makes as she settles comfortably on his chest reminds Bucky why he calls her kitten. His arms go around her and rest on the small of her back and she puts one of her arms around his neck and with the other she starts tracing patterns on his neck and chest, placing small kisses here and there.  
“I love you,” she says after a few minutes of silence.  
His arms tighten around her for a second and he places a kiss on her forehead. “I love you too, always!”  
She sits up and smashes her mouth against Bucky’s in a lazy kiss that Bucky has no problem in letting her lead. As his hands travel south and come to rest on her ass, she breaks the kiss and pushes his hands away. “None of that, Sir. We have breakfast in the kitchen.”  
Bucky frowns for a second before a wicked smile takes over his face. “Why didn’t you tell me Wanda was downstairs?”  
She slaps his chest and scowls, turning her face away from his. “Ass!”  
He chuckles and turns her face back to him with two fingers on her chin. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. But still, how come we haven’t gotten a visit from the Firefighting department this morning? Did you order the food from the diner?”  
Her inability to cook has been a running joke in their family for a while now. Morgan loves to be babysat by them because she can always count on the junk food her Aunt Y/N orders so they don’t starve.  
“IcookedandWandasupervisedandthenIputitinthefridge!”  
“Wanna run that again for me, doll? Not in gibberish this time would be appreciated,” he laughs as he takes in her red face. “Hey, hey. None of that now, babydoll. I was joking and I’m sorry. I know how much this bothers you no matter how many times I’ve told you that I’m not marrying you for your cooking skills…if I were to do that, I’m afraid we would never get married!”  
He takes her face in his hands and sweetly kisses both of her lids. She sighs and burrows closer into his embrace. “Wanda came over yesterday since you assured us you guys would be home in time. She supervised and told me what to do and then we put everything in the fridge. I know it’s not going to taste the same, but I wanted to do something nice for you. And dinner would have been too complicated, so breakfast was the safest choice. Wanda agreed and helped me a lot.”  
“I’m sure it’s going to be amazing. You didn’t have to, baby. But thank you! Now let’s go downstairs and eat that breakfast I’m hearing so much about.”  
He kisses her head then tightens his hold on her and gets out of bed with her in his arms, making her shriek and put both her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. She knows he would never drop her but the movement took her by surprise.  
“Doll, if you don’t stop squirming, we will not be having breakfast any time soon…at least not that kind of breakfast.”  
She snorts and slaps his shoulder as he exits the room and walks downstairs and towards the kitchen. “Horndog!”  
“Only for you!” he says and deposits her at the kitchen table in her favorite chair.  
His breath hitches as he takes notice of his favorite breakfast foods. His girl really went all the way out for him this time and he feels overwhelmed for a moment.  
“It better be only me,” her teasing voice brings him out of his musings and he shakes his head to clear his mind.  
“This does look amazing, babydoll! Thank you so much for thinking of me.”  
He sits down on the chair opposite hers and their legs automatically entangle as she fills their glasses with freshly squeezed orange juice. He puts eggs and hash browns on their plates and she waits with bated breath to hear his verdict.  
“These are the best one day old eggs and hash browns that I’ve had, doll!”  
She snorts and pushes away her plate, before taking away his. “Oh, shut up, you baby! You don’t have to eat them, they’re probably soggy and you’ll end up getting hepatitis from the eggs. I don’t know why I thought this was a good idea. And Wanda didn’t stop me either!”  
“Oh, thank God!” Bucky says as he takes a few gulps of the juice to wash away the taste. “I wonder what did I do to her to make her want to poison me? That’s what I wanna know!”  
She sits pondering for a few moments then moves towards the trashcan and speaks: “You and Peter played that prank on Sam a few missions ago!”  
“Oooooh! Right! Yes! That was a good prank!” Bucky says as he puffs his chest and get up to help her clean up the attempted breakfast.  
She shakes her head and rests her hip against the counter as Bucky finishes cleaning up the table. “Just say thanks you got off this easy. She has yet to pay Peter back for his help.”  
“Nothing fazes the punk!”  
They both freeze at the mention of the insult, which was more of a nickname to be honest, but before either of them could address it, her phone started ringing. They startle and she runs across the kitchen to pick up her phone. With Wanda so close to her due date they weren’t taking any chances.  
She frowns then relaxes when she sees it’s the number associated with Friday that Morgan uses when she wants to talk to her aunts or uncles. Then she freezes again. Why would Morgan call so early in the morning? It was barely 9 a.m. She was sure her and Peter were getting on Pepper’s nerves already.  
“Hello? Morgan? What happened, honey?”  
Bucky becomes alert and in a moment he is next to her, his arm around her waist, both listening to the tiny voice on the other side of the phone.  
“Morning, Aunt Y/N, Uncle Buck!”  
“Morning, babygirl!” Buck answers her, half smiling, half frowning. “Now, shouldn’t you and Peter be turning your mom’s hair white now? Is everything ok?”  
“Momma has a guest. He spent the night and Peter asked me to call you and Uncle Sam and tell you to get your bottoms over here.”  
For a second she and Bucky share a look. Has Pepper finally found someone to share her life with? And then it hits them both at the same time, Steve! Why else would Peter ask Morgan to call them over? He used this as his chance to get Morgan out of the room and then go to town on Steve’s face.  
“Shit!” Bucky mutters as he exits the kitchen and enters the living room in search of his phone. He lets out a sigh of relief when he doesn’t find any calls or messages from Sam, just one from Wanda sent around 4 a.m. telling him to enjoy his breakfast followed by a few maniacally laughing emojis. The baby probably didn’t let her rest the night before if she was up at that hour.  
He walks back into the kitchen just as Y/N asks Morgan if she called her Uncle Sam yet.  
Both Bucky and Morgan tell her that she hasn’t gotten around to do it and Y/N tells her that they’ll call Uncle Sam and Aunt Wanda and get to the Stark house as soon as possible. She quickly ends the call and the silence that fills the room is heavy.  
“Goddamnit,” Bucky barks, startling Y/N, “what did the idiot do now!??”  
She shakes her head and says “I don’t know, but we should call Sam and Wanda before Morgan gets the chance to.”  
They look at each other and at the same time they shout “Not it!”. Bucky is just a fraction of a second too late and he scowls as Y/N smiles triumphantly. “Good luck!” she chirps and squeaks when Bucky spanks her ass, a little harder than just a pleasure spanking. He forgot that she was basically naked and he smiles apologetically as he rubs the pain away.  
The two lovers move into the living room and sit down on the couch, Y/N sitting more on Bucky’s lap than on the couch.  
“Here goes nothing,” Bucky says and presses the dial button.  
“You better be dying, brain mush, to call me at this hour! Or I will kill you just to be sure you are dying!” Sam Wilson groggily snaps over the line and Bucky feels bad for waking them up since it didn’t seem that the two had gotten much sleep during the night.  
Bucky hears Wanda snort and he is sure Sam can hear Y/N doing the same. “Shush!” they tell the women at the same time and the four of them burst out laughing.  
“You guys need to get here ASAP, bird brain,” Bucky says after they calm down and they all feel as the mood sobers and they start talking business.  
“How bad is it? Y/N is there so it shouldn’t be the end of the world bad. Is is Peter?”  
Bucky shakes his head, forgetting that Sam can’t see it. “No, he’s ok. I need you to get here. I’ll tell you then since I don’t need you guys to end up in a car crash. Just get dressed and get here ASAP while you drive safely!”  
Bucky and Y/N hear Wanda tell him to get up and the only thing Sam tells them before he hangs up is “Be there in half an hour!”  
“Sometimes I hate that they live so close,” Bucky sighs, letting his head fall back against the couch.  
“No, you don’t!” she says as she gets up and tries to pull Bucky up with her.  
“Nooo,” he whines. “Why are we getting up?!?”  
“Because I would rather not have Sam see me half naked, thank you very much.”  
She yelps then laughs as Bucky sits up and flips her over his shoulder, running towards their room, taking the stairs two at a time.  
They shower quickly and get dressed before going back downstairs to wait for Sam and Wanda. “They’re here,” Bucky says ten minutes after they sit down just as the gravel in the driveway scrunches under their car.  
Y/N gets up and goes into the kitchen to get them some orange juice (the Y/N, Bucky, Peter and Sam gave up coffee for the duration of Wanda’s pregnancy out of solidarity with the witch) just as Bucky makes his way towards the door and opens it as Sam and Wanda walk up onto the porch.  
“Morning, guys! Sorry for the early wake up call, but it couldn’t wait. It was either us or Morgan!”  
“Morgan?!? Is she ok?” Wanda asks as she waddles into the living room with Sam hovering close to her.  
“She’s ok,” Y/N says as she walks back into the room and passes the two their glasses and hugs Sam. “Glad you’re back safe, brother!”  
Sam squeezes her tight and lifts her off her feet for a few seconds. “Thank you for being there for Wanda!”  
“Pssshh! She’s cooking my nephew in there, Wilson. I just made sure he didn’t need anything!”  
“Gee, guys. Thanks. I knew you only loved me for my incubator abilities,” Wanda grouches teasingly as Bucky sits down on the arm of the couch and pulls her into his side, kissing her head.  
“Good to see you, little one! Both of you little ones.”  
Wanda beams up at him and then smiles mischievously. “Did you enjoy the breakfast?”  
The four of them laugh again and Sam says “Not that I don’t like to visit my sister, but after three weeks of seeing your face and Peter’s, I was kinda hoping for a break from them. So what’s this about?”  
“So, as I was telling you before. Either we woke you up or Morgan would have done it. She-uhm…Peter asked her to call all four of us and get us there.”  
“Peter? What happened to him?” Wanda asked confused. Sam had told her that all three got home with not even a scratch.  
“Well, you see…Pepper had a guest last night and Peter and Morgan ran into him this morning!”  
“Good for her!”/ “Guest? Him?!?” Sam and Wanda speak at the same time.  
Wanda scowls at Sam and he lifts his arms in defense. “What? I’m just saying. It’s been years since we lost Tony. She deserves to start over.”  
“That’s good and everything, but that’s neither the case nor the problem. The problem is who the guest was,” she says and Bucky nods.  
“Who is it? Do we know him? It’s Happy isn’t it? But isn’t Happy with May? I get why Peter would want us there. I’ll kick-”  
“It’s Steve.”  
“Bucky!” Y/N cries as Bucky rips off the band aid.  
Sam stops his rambling, looking confused. “Steve? Who is Steve? Honey, do we know a Steve?”  
By the look on her face, Y/N and Bucky can tell that Wanda understood. “No, that’s not possible,” she whispers and Bucky tightens his hold on her shoulder.  
Y/N nods and Sam still looks confused. “Hello? I don’t know a Steve. Can you show me a picture? Does he work at SI?”  
“Steve, Sam. Our Steve,” Wanda says and motions for Bucky to help her up. She waddles towards the chair Sam was sitting on and puts her hand on his shoulder.  
Sam looks between the three before reality hits home. “No. NO! This is not funny, Barnes. I did not expect this from you, Y/N. We’re leaving, Wanda!”  
Bucky quickly gets up and puts himself in Sam’s way. “Sam, brother. We are not joking. He was here yesterday when I got home. Waiting for Y/N.”  
“And why didn’t you call to tell me?” Sam shouts. “Because he wasn’t here. That’s why! This isn’t funny.”  
“Sam,” Y/N says this time, “you guys just returned from a mission. Wanda was the priority for all of us. That’s where you were supposed to be. Not talking to a ghost.”  
“You’re not kidding, right?” Sam asks, defeated.  
“I’m afraid not, buddy,” Bucky answers and claps his shoulder.  
“What did he want?” Wanda finally asks.  
“Y/N,” Bucky asks before she could even open her mouth. “He was waiting for Y/N, ready to drive with her into the sunset.”  
Y/N looks slightly distressed at thought, Wanda frowns and Sam lets out a terrifying growl. “Over my dead body!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed this. Next chapter we should return to our program and Tiny S shall return.
> 
> As you can see my music taste is all over the place so if you think a song could inspire something, don't be afraid to hit me up in the comments.


	8. Tony Stark 2.0

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Peter, it's Morgan's turn to talk to Steve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything belongs to Marvel and I make no profit from this.
> 
> Sorry for the delay, guys. Morgan kept escaping me and then I had my Masters exam and didn't have time for this.
> 
> See you in the comments and I hope you enjoy this!

Steve watched Morgan as she silently walked towards him and carefully sat on one of the bar stools next to him. The not so little girl anymore studied him for a few moments, looking him up and down and seemingly trying to look straight into his soul.  
“Hi, Uncle Steve”, she finally said and his heart constricted. He had missed this badly.  
“Hi, Starkie,” Steve told her using the nickname she hadn’t heard in years. It was Quill who tried to use that nickname once, years before, and after Groot kept him hanging upside down for a few hours for upsetting the little girl no one had tried again.  
“Why did you leave?”  
Never to be said that Morgan Stark was not a little piece broken from her father’s rib that he had willingly parted with. And the eyes that were so much like his made Steve want to curl into a tiny ball and never resurface.  
“Did you not love us anymore? Daddy was gone and Momma was hurting and then you left as well…”  
Steve swallowed the bile in his mouth and wrapped his arms around the girl, pulling her into his lap. “No, Morgan. I loved you all. I still do…I made a mistake, Starkie. One that I regret deeply and always will. It was not your fault and it wasn’t because I didn’t love you. You know how I was frozen for a long time, right?”  
When Morgan nodded in confirmation, Steve went on. “So when I woke up, everything and everyone I knew was gone.-”  
“But Uncle Buck-”  
“It took years before I-we learned that your Uncle Bucky was still alive. And I think you know that our family didn’t get along for a while after that- ”  
“Yeah, because HYDRA made Uncle Buck kill my Memaw and Pepaw, right?”  
“That’s exactly right, Starkie,” Steve answered and he tried his best not to laugh at the image that Morgan made when she called Howard Stark “Pepaw.” He was sure Bucky, who had also been a friend of Howard’s had gotten a kick out of it. “So for a while there were some issues and then I met your Aunt Y/N and we got together , but I guess being frozen for so long and missing a part of my life made me feel like the life I had was not truly mine…not completely mine at least. I felt like a fraud. You know what that means, Starkie? Fraud?”  
Her answer made Steve regret ever asking her that. “Yeah, that’s what Uncle Sam said you were. That you were a fake person and an even faker friend…Oh! And the fakest boyfriend ever for what you did to my aunt.”  
Gee, Sam, Steve thinks to himself. Blunt much?  
In his head he heard a voice sounding eerily like Sam, snapping at him and putting him in his place. “No less than you deserve, asshole!” Steve couldn’t deny that and he feared his reunion with his winged friend.  
“Your uncle Sam was right. What I did is wrong. I left you all and I wronged a lot of people and hurt them in a bad way, but now I’m back and I’m gonna try to make it up to you all. Whatever it takes, Starkie. That’s a promise!”  
The little girl seemed content and happy with his answer, so she relaxed in his arms, allowing Steve to cuddle her close to his chest and inhale the smell of her shampoo. They sat like that, enjoyed one another’s presence as Steve ran his fingers up and down her back until he felt her freeze and had it not been for his quick reflexes she would have fallen on her face when she practically ripped herself from his arms and jumped out of his lap and away from him.  
“Starkie, are you ok, what happened?”  
“Are you and Aunt Y/N gonna get back together since you're back? Because I love my Uncle Buck a lot a lot and I don’t want him to be sad.”  
Steve had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep himself from blurting out “But what about me?” He sighed and rubbed his hands over his face a couple of times before answering Morgan, who was now looking at him like he was the Boogeyman.  
“No, Starkie. Your aunt and uncle are going to get married and start a family of their own some day and I would never jeopardize that. Not for anything in the world. I would never do anything to hurt them. I love them both so much and no matter what, if they are happy I will be too.”  
“You sure? Because my Aunt Y/N is very pretty…even though she doesn’t know how to cook.”  
Steve snorts, amused by her words. “She still hasn’t learned to cook?”  
“Nooo, I get to eat sooo much pizza when they babysit me. Peter gets sooooo jealous. One time he said he wanted to move back in with them because he’s a broke college student and free pizza is free pizza even though he has to witness his brother and sister making out all the time. That’s when Uncle Bucky got worried and called the bank to wire him some money and Aunt Y/N scolded him for not telling them sooner.”  
Steve could practically see the pizza dancing in front of her eyes as her eyes clouded and a smile took over her small face. On the other side of the house he can hear Pepper hiss and smack Peter for talking like that around Morgan. Peter is saying that he didn’t know she could hear them and Pepper proceeded to remind him that Morgan was Tony’s daughter. Indeed, over the years, Pepper repeatedly told the team that had she not been present at birth she would have sworn that Tony had managed to find a way to clone himself…and with how he messed with science and technology she still wasn’t sure she was just the oven and Morgan was a hundred percent pure Anthony Stark. Pepper than told him that he was stupid for not asking for help if he needed it.  
“I’m sure, Starkie. I love your Aunt Y/N. Very much. I reckon I always will, but she and your Uncle Buck are together now and I will never mess with that. He will always be my brother and I would never hurt him-”  
“But you left, Uncle Steve.”  
From her lips to God’s ears.  
“I did, Starkie. And your Uncle Buck is gonna make me pay for it. Big time. Uncle Sam and Peter and your Aunt Wanda too…And your Uncle Thor. Trust me, Starkie, I have a lot to make up for and I need to apologize to a lot of people. But if that lets me be a part of your lives I’ll be more than happy to do it. But I will never try to come between your aunt and uncle. Never.”  
The girl jumped back into his lap and snuggled close. “I’m happy that you’re back…Uncle Spangles.”  
Steve is man enough to admit that those words brought tears to his eyes. The nickname that Tony and Morgan had given him when she was just learning to talk meant the absolute world to him. He kissed her forehead and squeezed her tiny body to him as he heard Peter and Pepper making their way back to the kitchen.  
Pepper smiled when she saw them cuddling while Peter still glared at him before his eyes fell on Morgan and his gaze softened. It was clear as day that Morgan was the light of Peter’s eye.  
“Bug, how about you leave the old man with his old bones alone and you come here?”  
Morgan shook her head and pouted. “No, Peter. I wanna stay with Uncle Spangles.”  
Peter let out a gasp and put his hand over his heart, tripping and letting himself fall to the floor as if shot. “Oh, the betrayal. Thy taste is bitter.”  
Morgan giggled behind her small hands and Pepper rolled her eyes. Something told Steve that this was an everyday occurrence.  
When Peter saw that no one was paying attention to him he sat up, dusted off his clothes and sat down as far away from Steve as possible, but close enough to get to Morgan if need be.  
Before any of them could say anything else, Peter’s phone chimed alerting them that he had a text. He took it out of his pocket and the look that took over his face brought chills to Steve’s spine.  
“Pepp, I hope you made enough breakfast!”  
“And why is that, Peter?” she said, turning to face him as she poured a glass of orange juice.  
“Because the others are on the way…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next up, Sam Wilson.


	9. Burn it down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part three of the Holy Trinity. Steve deals with Hurricane Sam after he finds out that Steve is back and looking for Y/N.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everything belongs to Marvel and I make no profit from this.
> 
> I'm not even going to try to apologize, I'm just going to hide from the rotten fruit you're bound to send my way. See you in the comments.
> 
> Inspired by Linkin Park's "Burn it down".

"You told me yes, you held me high  
And I believed when you told that lie  
I played soldier, you played king  
And struck me down when I kissed that ring

You lost that right to hold that crown  
I built you up but you let me down  
So when you fall, I'll take my turn  
And fan the flames as your blazes burn"

As Bucky Barnes took in Sam Wilson’s reaction at hearing the news about Steve he couldn’t help but be glad that their relationship evolved and that they now saw each other like brothers. No one could contest that The Falcon wasn’t as effective as Bucky or Clint or Nat were, but at the same time, seeing the fire in Sam’s eyes reminded Bucky that he should be more afraid of Sam Wilson and not his superhero side.  
“Babe,” started Wanda as Y/N helped her sit down gently on the chair that Sam had occupied a few moments before. “I know how this must feel. We all do. Steve left us all. But remember that we cannot afford to ruin our family over him. Am I pissed? You have no idea. Would I risk you or our baby or the others for him? I’m sorry, but no. When I lost Pietro I thought I would never have a family again and now that I have you I will not let anything or anyone stand in the way of that.”  
“Well said, Wan,” Y/N grinned as she rubbed a hand on Wanda’s back. “Look Sammy, you can kick the shit out of the knucklehead if it so pleases you, but please, keep in mind that you have a wife and a child on the way. And you have us. And what would Peter do without you and Buck, huh?”  
“Hey, what have I done in this equation?!?” Bucky asks, feeling slightly offended at his girl’s words.  
Both of the girls snort and roll their eyes at his words. “Puh-lease, Barnes. You would be right there in jail with Birdbrain over there!”  
The boys were now the ones who reacted in unison, both gasped and looked betrayed as the two girls giggled. “Are you gonna let her talk about your husband that way, Wanda Wilson?”  
“Why not?” she asked, shrugging her shoulders. “She’s telling the truth.”  
Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson looked at each other for a moment and a pair of slightly demented grins appeared on their faces that gave the girls chills. Maybe I shouldn’t have been so insistent, Y/N thought to herself as she looked at the silent communication that took place between the two guys.  
Sam ran his hands over his head a few times, then sighed and sat on the couch, Bucky following him soon after.  
“He really is back? No joke?”  
“No, joke, man,” Bucky said and proceeded to give them a short summary of what had happened the previous day.  
Once the story was finished, Y/N could see that Sam was getting ready for another rant so she sat up, clapped her hands and said “Alriiiiiighty then. Onward my friends, before princess Morgan sends her knights after us…Also, I’m afraid Steve might have become spider food by now.”  
“Peter knows?!?” Wanda and Sam ask at the same time as Sam helps his wife up and the four head towards the door.  
“It seems so. Morgan was supposed to stay with Harley but he had an emergency so Peter took over last night and took her home this morning. I’m assuming since it was Morgan that called us, Peter and Pepper sent her away before she could witness Peter killing Steve…Less witnesses that way, I guess,” Bucky said, snorting at his own joke and looking proud of himself when Sam did the same, the cloud that had been building over his head over the last 20 minutes slowly going away.  
“The kid will have done us proud, I’m sure of that! He learned from the best-”  
“That would be Nat,” Y/N whispered conspiratorially to Wanda, making her laugh out loud.  
“Oi! What is this?!? Picking on your husbands day?” Sam says as the four exit the house and Bucky stops to lock the door and set the alarm.  
“Isn’t that every day?” Wanda asks, trying her best to look like an innocent angel.  
Which she was if you asked Sam, but she didn’t need to know that.  
Laughing, each of the couples get into their cars and drive off as fast as they could with such precious cargo on board.  
“How do you think this is going to go?” Y/N asks as she tangles the fingers from her left hand with those of Bucky’s right as he rested his hand on the gear stick.  
“Well, it is a good thing that Steve has already been declared dead if Sam kills him. He can’t be charged with the murder of a dead person. So there’s that…”  
Y/N felt a little guilty as she laughed freely at Bucky’s words. Not at the idea of Steve dying, but at the fact that he had been declared dead twice and yet here he was, alive and in tip top shape. She thought about convincing the others to call Steve Harry Potter from now on as he simply refused to die and stay dead…or Voldemort since Steve had done a good job at painting himself as the villain.  
“Where’s your head at, sweets?” Bucky asks as she fell silent beside him.  
“Don't mind me, I’ll tell you later.”  
The rest of the ride was spent in silence, listening to music and sharing kisses as both Bucky and Y/N were thinking of what was about to happen and how things were going to be from then on.  
“Game on,” Bucky said as he saw Sam’s car speed up as they entered the Stark drive-way. The two could literally see the smoke left behind by the car as Sam pushed it to its limits. They knew Wanda would make him pay later but at the moment Sam was like a bull ready to rip his target to pieces.  
They winced as they saw the car come to a screeching halt and send gravel every which way. The car had barely stopped before Sam was out of the car, not bothering to close the door behind him and leaving his wife behind as his eyes zeroed on Steve and Peter and Pepper as they waited on the porch. Well, Peter and Pepper waited as Steve started walking down the stairs and down the driveway when he saw Sam rushing towards them.  
Bucky and Y/N got of the car and they both winced as they heard Wanda scream and curse Sam for not helping her out of the car. Y/N ran to help her, but they all froze when they saw Steve fly backwards from the force of Sam’s punch. Before he could get back on his feet, Sam was on him like a dog to a bone. Peter was grinning like a lunatic, which later made Y/N think of reducing the time he spent with Sam and Bucky when she thought back to the scene. Pepper was just waiting for it to be done. Bucky was waiting on the sidelines ready to intervene if it all became too much and Wanda and Y/N froze next to the car, watching Sam kick the crap out of Captain America.  
“How fucking could you, man? You were like my brother! After Riley I never thought I would get that again and then you left like a little bitch! And now you’re back to torment that woman again? You’re a piece of shit, Rogers.”  
“Sam-”  
“Don’t you Sam me, you asshole. Look at them! Fucking look at them. Wanda is my wife and she is carrying my child. The woman you left and your best pal are now MY SISTER and MY BROTHER. See Peter? He’s the best kid to have around!”  
Everyone ignored Peter’s shout of “Who you calling kid, old man?!?”  
Sam had his hand on the back of Steve’s head and he was forcing him to look at each person he mentioned.  
“Look around you, asshole! Do you think you fit here? Is your pea sized brain able to comprehend what you’ve done and the consequences of it or did you think that you would bat your eyelashes and everything would be forgotten? Think again, Rogers! The sun has long since set on your reign, brother.”  
They all flinched at the venom in Sam’s voice as he spit out the word “brother.”  
“Sam, that’s enough!” Wanda said, but her words were drowned by the groan that came from Steve as Sam punched his ribs and knocked the wind out of him.  
“SAM WILSON!,” she snapped and she signaled Bucky to break the two apart.  
Bucky had to admit that, same as Peter, he was enjoying seeing Sam beat the righteousness out of Steve and he looked a little reluctant to step in, but as Wanda’s glare turned on him he quickly walked towards the two, quietly thinking of the shit that Pepper would give Sam over the state of her driveway. Not only had he sent gravel everywhere with his car, he did it again with Steve’s body.  
“That’s enough, buddy. He got it,” Bucky said as he caught Sam’s fist in his before it could make contact with Steve’s face again. If he were honest, Bucky would tell you that Steve’s face resembled the one he had when the two of them fought on SHIELD’s helicarriers. And Bucky was honest enough to also tell you that it felt good to see it that way. He would bet a lot of money and tell you that Peter surely felt the same.  
As he pushed Sam towards Wanda and his girl, he bent down and offered Steve his hand to help him sit up. “I don’t remember Sam hitting so hard…”  
Bucky snorted as he heard Wanda scold Sam for his reactions. “Well, when you left we were out of one of our heavy hitters so Sam stepped in.”  
“Great,” Steve winced as Bucky supported his body weight and helped him walk towards the house, with Wanda, Y/N and Sam close behind.  
“Heya, Buck!” Peter chimed, positively beaming, making Bucky and Pepper shake their heads, Bucky in amusement and Pepper in irritation. “How was your night?”  
“Looooong,” Bucky answered smirking, making Wanda, Sam and Peter snort, Pepper shout an indignant “Peter Parkeeer!”, Steve groan and Y/N wave her fist in his direction as they all entered the house.  
Atta boy! both Sam and Bucky couldn’t help but think to themselves as they all sat down on the couches in the living room.


	10. My Blood

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Discussion time between Steve and the rest. How will Sam and Wanda react? How about Y/N?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This still does not belong to me, but to Marvel. 
> 
> Chapter inspired by a Twenty One Pilots song called "My Blood." See you in the comments!
> 
> www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mn-FFjIbo8

"Stay with me, no, you don't need to run  
Stay with me, my blood, you don't need to run..."

 

Steve kept taking tiny breaths as Bucky helped him walk into the kitchen and then helped him sit down on one of the chairs.  
“They broken?” Bucky asks after a few moments of awkward silence as they both listen to their friends sit in the living room, Peter gleefully chatting Sam up, Pepper complaining about the state of her driveway and Y/N and Wanda going back and forth between Peter and Sam, scolding them.  
Steve shook his head, while poking his ribs with his fingers. “They don’t feel broken. Bruised? Sure. But not broken…I’m sure given the chance, Sam would have finished the job he started.”  
Bucky looked at Steve and how pitiful he looked and found himself thinking that for once Steve had it coming. To keep Steve from seeing that on his face, he turned around and walked towards the freezer in the corner of the room and opened the door, taking out a tray of ice cubes. Just as he was about to start looking for a cloth to put the ice in, Pepper came into the kitchen, shaking her head and muttering under her breath about the cost of lawn maintenance.  
“Give me that,” she said, taking the tray out of Bucky hand and walked towards Steve, a piece of cloth appearing in her hand seemingly out of nowhere. “What was Sam thinking?” she gasped when she saw the damage the man had done to Steve’s face. “What is Wanda feeding him?!?” she continued as she stopped next to Steve and put the ice on the right side of his face.  
Bucky snorted as Pepper lightly slapped Steve’s shoulder and let out a “Will ya quit movin’? You baby!”. Both Steve and Pepper turned and glared at him so he raised his hands in defense and he walked out of the kitchen, grinning and shouting for “Saaaaaaam! My man!”  
This time Pepper did not slap Steve when he winced and moved. “I deserved that!” he mumbled and his shoulders collapsed, his defeated frame reminding Pepper of a statue from Ancient Greece.  
“Maybe… but my lawn didn’t” Pepper joked. Or at least Steve hoped she joked.  
He took the ice from her hand and motioned with his hand that he was going outside. Pepper watched him go into her backyard before she grabbed a glass of water and went back to the living room.  
Peter was still wearing a slightly demented grin if she could say so herself. Bucky and Y/N were whispering to each other in a corner of the room but Pepper could tell by their body language that they weren’t arguing. Bucky kept running his hand over her right cheek and she would always lean into his hand, making him look at her like she had hung the moon. Sam was sitting on the couch, looking too proud for words while Wanda looked ready to kill him. Pepper handed her the glass of water and sat on a chair, frowning. “Friday, how is Morgan?”  
“Miss Morgan is currently sneaking into the garden to join Mr. Rogers, Boss. Should I stop her?”  
Pepper sighed and let her head fall into her hands. This was becoming a mess. “No, Friday. Thank you!”  
“What were you thinking, Sam?”  
Apparently Wanda was back at it. “Leave him be, Wanda. You know Steve would have never hurt Sam or Peter or Buck for that matter,” Y/N said as she and Bucky joined them. Bucky sat down on the love seat and pulled her into his side, kissing her temple.  
“You don’t know that, Y/N. None of us know that. Our Steve wouldn’t have. But we don’t know this Steve. This is not our Steve!” Wanda whispered, heartbreak and anguish written all over her face.  
Seeing and hearing his wife’s pain made Sam’s anger start boiling again and he made a move to get up from the couch. This seemed to have sobered Peter as well since he put his hand on Sam’s shoulder and pushed him back down. “No, Sam. I’m not the guy’s number one fan. Let’s be honest, I never was to begin with. That spot was and always will belong to Tony…But Rogers made a mistake and now the consequences of his actions are a thousand times worse than any beating that we might give him. He came back to a reality that is alien to him. The bonds that we have built in his absence will hurt him far more than any bruise we can put on his body.”  
They all turned to look at Peter. The look in his eyes did not match the soft tone he had spoken in. While his tone was soft and mellow, to calm Wanda and Sam down, his eyes were cold as steel and ice cold. One thing was clear, Y/N though to herself, Peter will never forgive Steve. Did she want him to? Had she forgiven Steve? Would Bucky forgive him? All these questions and the uncertainty were making her head spin, so she just sighed, pulled her legs under her and made herself as small as possible, almost climbing into Bucky’s lap.  
Peter’s eyes fell on her and he loudly gritted his teeth. It was Sam’s turn to grab Peter’s hand to stop him. Peter just shook his hand off and got up, walking towards Bucky and her. He bent down to her level, pushed her hair out of her face and said:  
“Let’s get you home, shall we, Sis? We can leave them alone to talk and we will go home and watch all the Vikings episodes you want. I won’t even complain when you’ll rewind the scenes to drool over Ivar! Promise!”  
Bucky nudged her away from his hide and whine playfully “Peter, noooo! Why would you say that?!? She’s gonna make me speak Norse to her again for a week! Thor ate me out of the house and home last time, man!”  
They all let out a laugh, but were smart enough to ignore the tremble in hers.  
“You just want free pizza!” she said as she sat up and wiped her face with the sleeves of her, Bucky’s, hoodie.  
“You caught me!” Peter grinned. “Now let’s go! Sam can I borrow your car? Bucky can drive you guys back to ours.”  
“Sure, kid!” Sam said. “The keys are in the car.”  
“Awesome!” He fist bumped Sam, kissed Wanda and Pepper on the forehead and walked out of the room, steadily ignoring Y/N and Bucky kissing passionately, as if they would never see each other again. The two only broke apart when Friday’s voice filled the room. “Miss Y/N, Peter has asked me to tell you “to hurry up or no Boneless for you tonight”, end quote.”  
They all snorted as she turned and high-tailed it out of the house, shouting a “Later!” over her shoulder.  
“Ours? How much do you wanna bet the kid will have moved back in by the time we get back to your place?” Sam asked, taking Wanda’s hand in his and rubbing circles on it.  
Bucky snorted, fondly shaking his head. “How stupid do you think I am? Peter will not leave our place for the next half year at the earliest.”  
They all noticed that Bucky’s tone implied that he did not mind that one bit. Before anyone else could say something, Steve walked back in, his face clean and no ice in sight.  
“Morgan is playing in her tent, Pepper,” he said and sat down in the other empty chair in the room. “They didn’t have to leave. I would have left, had I known…”  
“Yeah, you’ve gotten quite good at leaving, haven’t you, Steve?!?” Sam bit out.  
“Sam…I…” Steve started, but stopped. Sam wasn’t wrong. So what could he possibly say to make this right?  
“Why did you leave, Steve? I never got that from your thoughts. That you were so unhappy that you left it, us, all behind without a second glance. Not once. How could you do that to us? To her? To Sam? … To Bucky?”  
“It wasn’t that. Never that, Wanda. I swear. That trip we took in the past…I saw Peggy. By accident, but I saw her…and it fucked me up. Then Nat didn’t come back…And we lost Tony. And the pressure. It became too much. I wanted a moment of peace…and I thought I could get it there. In the past. With Peggy. I thought it would be easy, no more complications. No more enemies. No more people who counted on Captain America to save them…”  
“Then why are you back?” Sam bit out, his tone conflicted. He thought that this might have been Steve’s motivation for escaping to the past, but hearing it now did not make it easier for him to understand, let alone forgive.  
“I might have gone back to the past, but I took the future with me. I took each and every one of you. And each moment there was spent wondering and worrying about you. And then the thoughts of Bucky in HYDRA’s hands slowly and surely took over my every waking moment and by that point both Peggy and I gave up on each other. We weren’t even fighting anymore. I left after I managed to rescue Bucky and helped him settle and find his Steve. I came back to MY Bucky. And my family…Who’s about to expand! I can’t believe I almost missed it…”  
He was now looking at Wanda as if she would vanish in a cloud of smoke. She was silently crying and Sam was rubbing soothing circles on the small of her back. Steve sat up, walked over to where they were sitting, knelt down and took Wanda’s hands in his. “I’m so sorry, little sister. I will never forgive myself for leaving you guys and I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you, but I’m so so so sorry for leaving you, little one. But I’m so glad you and Sam found each other and are now bringing into the world a little love to fill our lives…”  
Steve stopped when Wanda launched herself off the couch and into his arms. They would have fallen to the floor had it not been for his strength. He slowly sat on the floor and pulled a crying Wanda into his lap. “Shhh! Shhh! There now, sister! All this crying is not good for the little love. Please stop crying! I’m back now and I promise I will never leave you alone again. You’ll get sick of me before I leave you alone again!”  
The three remaining persons into the room looked at each other before slowly getting up and making their way out of the room, leaving the two to grieve together.  
“Maybe I won’t have to kill Steve after all,” Sam thought to himself as he opened the fridge and grabbed a beer for himself and one for Bucky.


End file.
